Loyalty
by MagneticNoodle
Summary: "See me bear my teeth for you." What will it take for Mukuro to be loyal? Possible horror and smut in later chapters. Rating may go up.


As per usual, this is set TYL. I hope I did their characters justice. I'm not sure whether to turn this into a multi-chapter fic or not, as the ending is very open. Let me know what you think, if you want to continue, have any criticism, etc. I hope you enjoy my fic.

Disclaimer: I do not own KHR or any of the characters used.

…

Mukuro couldn't understand why he was here. He wondered what had possessed him to come to the young Vongola's event. The amount of times he'd said he wasn't going to be there, and yet he'd come anyway. He was slightly humiliated. Yet it was too late to leave now, he'd been spotted.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Ah, the charming tones of Tsunayoshi's ridiculous Storm guardian. He'd left the group he was talking to, in lieu of making a pathetic show of confronting the blue-haired man. Well, if he wasn't going to be polite, then Mukuro didn't see why he should attempt civility.

"I didn't come here to play with you, dog. Where is your master?" His lips settled into an elegant smirk at seeing the bomber's face turn a lovely shade of angry red. He chuckled to himself. This one was far too easy to wind up.

"Why you—" Hands decorated in chunky silver rings went straight for the concealed sticks of dynamite hidden behind the suit blazer he wore. "You little shit!" He snarled at Mukuro as he thrust his hand towards him, the bombs ready and waiting to be lit.

A snarky retort was ready on Mukuro's lips, but before it could be said, a small, elegant hand slid across Gokudera's own, before easily stealing the dynamite away from him.

"Do you really think here is the best place for this?" Tsunayoshi chided, handing the sticks back to his silver-haired puppy, a sour look gracing his delicate features. He didn't sound particularly pleased, and Gokudera bowed, apologetic, and slinked away with his tail between his legs. How appropriate, Mukuro thought to himself giddily. The whole scene was just so predictable, yet it never got boring.

"Why hello, there, Vongola." He raised his hand to his lips and chuckled behind it. He almost missed Tsuna's quiet sigh, before the young man turned to him with an aura of fake happiness that was almost tangible.

"Hello, Mukuro. Last time I saw you, you were adamant you weren't going to come today. What changed your mind?"

He had been adamant he would not be attending today. He honestly hadn't thought he'd be here at this moment. But really, what better things had he to do today. Today was the day that the bigwigs, the men with muscles and the overseers with money, the expert spies and lesser bosses, pledged their allegiance and loyalty to the Vongola boss. To Tsunayoshi. No, he hadn't planned on going to the ceremony itself. Yet here he was at the after party, out of sheer boredom. Not that he would admit that to the young Vongola himself.

"Well, I just happen to _adore _the warm welcome I receive when I come to see you, Vongola." He layered his voice with as much sarcasm as he could bring himself to muster. His voice was flat and biting, but he tilted his head slightly while his smile grew wider. He knew how much Tsunayoshi hated his sarcasm.

"Nonsense, Mukuro, I'm always happy to see you." Liar. "So, you came here to talk to me?" Tsunayoshi smiled.

Ah, that big fake smile. Mukuro had wondered when that lie would rear its ugly head. He grimaced. He didn't like being lied to, especially by someone who had no idea how to cover up their lies. Mukuro could read Tsunayoshi like a book. That smile didn't work on him. It was an insult, in fact, that Tsuna had even bothered attempting that gross falsification.

"Yes, yes. But before that," The mist guardian stretched his gloved hand to Tsuna, tapping him under the chin a couple of times. "Get rid of this."

The smile dropped right of Tsuna's round face. He knew exactly what Mukuro was referring to. They'd had this conversation before.

"Fine." He looked downward, away from Mukuro's face, almost apologetic. "Do you want to go somewhere more private?"

Mukuro nodded, pleased with himself. The big ballroom they were in was far too stuffy with so many parasitic Mafioso in it anyway.

He grabbed Tsunayoshi's wrist, ignoring the little yelp of protest he received, and pulled him towards the big, open double doors with the pretty, well-nurtured gardens behind them.

He was almost surprised when none of the bosses' idiotic 'guardians' attempted to stop him. He chuckled to himself.

"Where are the knights in shining armour when their damsel needs them?" Always an excuse to tease, to irritate. But Tsuna had always been the most gratifying to agitate. He let it fester until he snapped. And there was sometimes no telling what he'd do if he was angry enough. It was exhilarating.

He was a little miffed when Tsuna gave a small, exasperated sigh, but otherwise ignored him.

It was hot outside, sweltering even, and having Mukuro march them both along in this heat did neither of them any favours. They stopped at a wooden bench, facing beautiful rosebushes, the roses red and full, having just finished blooming. Mukuro noted that they were the most exquisite red. You wouldn't notice if they had been splattered with fresh, warm blood.

He pulled Tsuna down to sit next to him, the smaller man colliding with the strong chest of his mist guardian. He pulled himself, together quickly, sitting up straight and staring ahead, at the pretty roses. Mukuro couldn't help but chuckle, which earned him a glare, which he shrugged off with an air of rebellion.

"If you wanted me to cuddle you, you needed but ask." His chuckle turned into full-blown laughter when he saw the plethora of expressions pass over Tsunayoshi's face. Shock, anger, doubt, exhaustion. Finally he sighed.

"Mukuro, what do you want?"

He pondered the question. What _did _he want? He certainly hadn't come here for any particular reason. He was just sort of… there. He wasn't sure why. He wasn't sure where Chrome was, so he couldn't use her as an excuse. And he didn't want to look ridiculous before Tsunayoshi. So he couldn't just say he'd been he literally had nothing better to do. He imagined the little boss would think him pitiful, think him lonely. Oh no. Mukuro couldn't have that.

Tsuna cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably, dragging Mukuro out of his thoughts. His expression almost resembled guilt. How curious. He briefly wondered to himself what the boy had to feel guilty about, then came to the conclusion that he didn't really care.

Shrugging off his thoughts, he looked Tsuna directly in the face.

"I came here for the pleasure of your company, Vongola." He plastered his trademark smirk over his face, squashing the thoughts of his that begged Tsuna not to see through his façade. There was no point to those thoughts. His illusions were perfect. All of them. He really was a fantastic actor.

Unfortunately for him, though, he had forgotten about the Hyper Intuition Tsuna possessed. The boy looked at him almost pityingly, yet didn't press the matter, simply shrugged it off and waited for Mukuro to continue.

The blue-haired man was almost thankful. Almost. But he couldn't forgive that look. How dare the younger man think him pitiful. Had he forgotten that Mukuro was faster, stronger than him? Had he forgotten that his place was underneath Mukuro? The Italian grit his teeth. How dare he.

He grabbed Tsuna's chin, harshly pulling his head towards himself, so that they were facing each other. With a menacing, humourless chuckle, Mukuro brought his other hand to Tsuna's face, pushing a lock of hair back, before twisting into the brunette spikes, pulling the don's head back and exposing his throat. Mukuro leaned over him to whisper in his ear, hearing Tsunayoshi's ragged breathing in his own, catching a glimpse of the young man staring at Mukuro from the corner of his eyes. How vulnerable and precious he looked, even if his eyes were flashing with ill-concealed defiance. Pretty, Mukuro absentmindedly thought to himself.

Nevertheless, he had been provoked. He had to teach the offender not to do it again. He supposed, just a warning would do for now.

"Listen here," He hissed down Tsuna's ear, "Just because you own the skin that will someday be mine, do not think that I will not hurt you."

He felt a hand wrap around his forearm.

"No you won't." Was spoken quietly, almost whispered in response.

Mukuro snorted scornfully.

"Why? I can easily beat you in a fight." Mukuro oppressed the memory of Tsuna defeating him that surged to the front of his mind. "Do you think your precious guardians will come to rescue you?"

"No. I just don't think you'd hurt me." Tsuna took a deep breath, steeling himself. "You're not the bad guy you make yourself out to be."

There was a pause, a lengthy one, before Mukuro threw back his head and laughed.

"You're full of yourself today, Vongola. Don't let those other Mafioso fill your head with such thoughts." The intense stare Tsuna was giving him was unnerving. It felt like the little Japanese man saw past him, through him. Right through him. This was getting far too serious for Mukuro right now. It was even a little scary. Nobody had ever, in any of his reincarnations, made him feel as transparent as Tsuna did. He wasn't sure he liked this feeling of dread, the knots that formed in his stomach and refused to be calmed. He wasn't _afraid _of Tsunayoshi, but the feeling Tsuna's stare gave him felt very akin to fear.

No, he didn't like it one little bit.

Tsuna didn't say anything, just continued to stare. Making eye contact seemed to be hard for the shy, little boss, but he always managed it with Mukuro.

It was so very unnerving.

He stood up, not caring that Tsuna didn't follow his actions.

"We'll just see about that, Vongola." He muttered roughly, to himself more than to Tsuna, before turning in the opposite direction they came from and stalking away.

Tsuna looked back to the roses, mentally noting that they were blood-red, and looked almost exactly the same shade as Mukuro's eye.

"Goodbye, Mukuro." He wasn't sure if his mist guardian had heard him or not. But when he looked back over and discovered him gone, he was fairly certain he hadn't.


End file.
